Effects of Call-Forward Delivery Systems on Suppliers’ Serial per Unit Costs

Improving the profitability of industrial firms involved in mass- or large serial-production by means of a more economic use of material is a topic of immediate interest. In this context modern principles of the supply of materials have been redefined, sometimes concealing well-known procurement principles which have simply been rediscovered. The two principles in question here are Just-in-Time and Kanban (Wildemann 1987) which have the same aim, namely to reduce uneconomic stock levels and to accelerate the lead times of the material while at the same time maintaining or imposing production flexibility as displayed by the diversity of the products on offer (Schonberger 1984). The principles hold out the promise of possible reductions in stock of up to 70% and of order lead times being reduced by up to 90%, with implicitly the corresponding cost savings in the material area.